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Cherry Christmas Cake

This Cherry Christmas Cake is simple to make, comes together quickly and really tastes like Christmas! Thankfully, frozen cherries are available year round and it’s just such a treat to have a cherry cake in December! I served a slice to my little niece and she found me after she was done to say, “this is the best cake in the whole world!” – in her sweetest 5-year old voice. I about melted.

This is why I will continue to make cakes for my family. It’s such an amazing feeling to watch my nieces, nephews and my own kiddos eyes light up. One of my baby girl’s first words were “cake” (true story). The littles have come to expect my Sunday cakes so if I don’t make one, they’re instantly disappointed and I just can’t have that!

I’m ridiculous about Christmas and pretty much beside myself when we hit December! I’ll be the old lady who’s house is so decorated, you might have a hard time getting through the door!

It’s snowing outside as I type, there’s sweet Christmas music playing in the next room, and the birds are perched in a tree outside my window with snow flurries all over the place. So beautiful! Makes me want a mug of coffee and a slice of cake actually! I hope you love this Cherry Christmas Cake! It’s quite a treat :).

Ingredients for Toppings/Decor:

Make the Cherries in Sauce First:

1. In a medium saucepan, stir together 1/4 cup water, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 Tbsp sugar and 2 tsp cornstarch and place over medium heat, whisking constantly. As soon as it starts to thicken, add 4 cups frozen cherries and cook until lightly boiling, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

How to Make the Sponge Cake:

1. Line bottom of 9″ cake pan or springform pan with parchment paper (do not butter the pan). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat 3 eggs for 1 minute on high speed until foamy. With mixer on, gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and beat together 7 to 8 min on high speed or until a thick ribbon forms when you lift up the batter (if using electric hand mixer, add 2 minutes to mixing time).

2. Whisk together 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 tsp baking powder then sift them in two increments, folding gently into egg mixture with a spatula. Fold just until flour is incorporated without streaks of flour, scraping from the bottom of the bowl to make sure you don’t miss any pockets of flour.

3. Transfer batter to pan and bake at 350˚F for 25 min. Cool 5 min then run thin spatula around the edges to loosen from pan, transfer to a wire rack and peel back the parchment paper. Let cake cool completely to room temperature.

How to Make the Frosting:

1. Beat cold heavy cream until whipped and spreadable – transfer to medium bowl. In same stand mixer (no need to wash it), beat together 6 oz softened cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar until fluffy and whipped (2 minutes on high speed). Use a spatula to fold in whipped cream until well blended. Reserve 1/4 cup cream and tint with green food coloring then transfer it to a small piping bag fitted with Wilton 67 frosting tip to make leaves on top later.

Assembling the Cherry Christmas Cake:

1. Place cooled cake on serving platter and poke all over the top with a fork. Top with cooled cherries and let it rest 5 minutes for the cake to absorb some of the syrup. Spread frosting over the top, top with grated chocolate. Pipe holly leaves onto the cake and top with maraschino cherries.

Do you have any special pre-Christmas food traditions? Let me know in a comment below! I’m always looking to try something new 🙂

How to Make the Sponge Cake:

Line bottom of 9" cake pan or springform pan with parchment paper (do not butter pan). In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk, beat 3 eggs for 1 min on high speed until foamy. With mixer on, gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and beat 7 to 8 min on high speed or until a thick ribbon forms when you lift up the batter (if using electric hand mixer, add 2 min to mixing time).

Whisk together 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 tsp baking powder then sift them in two increments, folding gently into egg mixture with spatula. Fold just until flour is incorporated without streaks of flour, scraping from bottom of bowl to catch any pockets of flour.

Transfer batter to pan and bake at 350˚F for 25 min. Cool 5 min then run thin spatula around the edges to loosen from pan, transfer to wire rack, peel back parchment paper and cool cake to room temperature.

How to Make Frosting:

Beat cold heavy cream until whipped and spreadable (approx 2 min) - transfer to medium bowl. In same stand mixer (no need to wash it), beat 6 oz softened cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar until fluffy and whipped (2 minutes on high speed). Use spatula to fold in whipped cream until well blended. Reserve 1/4 cup cream and tint with green food coloring then transfer it to a small piping bag fitted with Wilton 67 frosting tip to make leaves on top later.

Assembling the Cherry Christmas Cake:

Place cooled cake on serving platter and poke all over the top with fork. Top with cooled cherries and let rest 5 min for the cake to absorb some syrup. Spread frosting over the top, top with grated chocolate. Pipe holly leaves and top with maraschino cherries.

If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen

Do you have any special pre-Christmas food traditions? Let me know in a comment below! I’m always looking to try something new 🙂

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natashaskitchen

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the blogger behind Natasha's Kitchen (since 2009). My husband and I run this blog together and share only our best, family approved recipes with YOU. Thanks for stopping by! We are so happy you're here.

Looks delicious, love all photos you posted, step by step easy to follow, I’ll try this :)0. 5 stars for you Natasha(like). Reply

Natashas Kitchen

April 23, 2019

I’m so happy you found this helpful! Thank you for that awesome review! Reply

Inessa

January 3, 2019

I made this cake for a big family party for New Year’s Eve. I used bigger baking pan and just increased ingredients. I also used juice from cherries as a syrup and just poured over the cake layer. It turned out delicious and even better on next day! Everyone liked it! Thank you, Natasha for your great recipes! Reply

Natashas Kitchen

January 4, 2019

I’m so happy to hear that, Inessa! Thank you for that great review! Reply

Inessa

January 3, 2019

I made this cake for New Year’s Eve for a big family party. I used bigger baking pan and just increased ingredients. It turned out to be delicious! Everyone liked it! Thank you, Natasha for your great recipes! Reply

What a delicious cake!! Thank you so much for your recipies! This is the fifth cake I’ve made from your blog, and as always with your cakes, it was a huge hit! I wish I could post the pictures of it. Looking forwarding to trying more of your cake recipies. Merry Christmas!!! Reply

Natasha's Kitchen

December 26, 2017

You’re welcome Olga! I’m happy to hear how much you are enjoying the recipes! Thanks for sharing your great review! Happy Holidays 🙂 Reply

Hello Natasha,
My name’s Anh . Thanks so much for your delicious cooking recipes. Specially strawberry cake and berries panna gotta etc. my family love them a lot. 🙂
I’m going make your new cherry cake recipe. Cherry is in the season here in Australia at the moment. Can I use the desk cherry instead frozen one? Reply

natashaskitchen

January 11, 2017

Do you mean fresh cherries? Yes! Fresh would be really good in this cake. Reply

Do you think it would be ok to double the recipe and just stack two cakes in one? Reply

natashaskitchen

December 30, 2016

I do think that would work to have a 2-layer cake using this sponge cake recipe with the cherries in the center and frosting on top (you may have enough frosting there to even cover the top and sides if you wanted to fully cover with frosting). If you make it that way, I would love to see your creation! 🙂 Tag me and let me know so I can see it 🙂 Reply

Tatiana

December 25, 2016

Thank you Natasha for amazing recipes! I finally found the perfect website, I love everything about it:)
I made this cake for Christmas and everyone loved it!
P.S. I tried a lot of your recipes and just decided to leave a comment and say ‘thank you’! Reply

natashaskitchen

December 25, 2016

Tatiana, you are so sweet 😊. Thank you for the compliment and you are very welcome! Reply

Kim

December 23, 2016

Hi Natasha can I substitute frozen raspberry for this cake.
Thanks.❤ Reply

natashaskitchen

December 23, 2016

Hi Kim, I think you could make that work, just keep in mind raspberries can be juicier and shrink down when heated so you won’t have as thick of a layer of fruit – I almost feel like fresh raspberries coated in a warmed raspberry jam might work better. Reply

Thank you for your recipes. No matter what I’m making your site is a go to when I need something new and trustworthy. One question, does this cake require any refrigeration after making? Thanks so much. Merry Christmas!! Reply

Hi Natasha, Looking forward to making another homerun cake (thanks to you)! During this busy time, looking to do AS MUCH as possible ahead. I know I can make the sponge cake ahead. Can I also make the cherry sauce & prep the shaved chocolate the day prior?
Just thought I would check your recommendations. Thank you & Merry Christmas 🙂 Reply

natashaskitchen

December 16, 2016

Sharon, prepping them a day ahead would work. I would keep cherry sauce in the refrigerator and shaved chocolate in a cool dry place like a pantry. Hope this helps and Merry Christmas to you as well 😬. Reply

Rita

December 10, 2016

Hi Natasha,
Can I make the cake with strawberries instead of cherries? Reply

natashaskitchen

December 10, 2016

Hi Rita, I do think it would taste great with strawberries!! 🙂 If you try it, let me know how you like it 🙂 Reply

Oksana

December 9, 2016

That will be on my Christmas menu list for sure! Thank you for giving an idea)) Reply

Thank you Natasha! I have just finished making this cake to celebrate our first and the only snow day a year in Portland. It turned out amazing. The recepie was very easy and I was able to make your creamy chicken soup at the same time. I am one of your biggest fans. You rock:)))) Reply

natashaskitchen

December 9, 2016

Alexandra, thank you for such a nice review on the cake and you are welcome. We are celebrating snow in Idaho as well 😁. Reply

Hello Natasha, I’m looking for a dessert recipe that has no sugar/honey/artificial sweeteners in it and no artificial flavorings. Any ideas on a recipe? I want to make a cake for a kid’s first birthday, finding a recipe without sugar has been a challenge.

That is really tough and I’m not sure I have anything like that besides fruit; maybe you could try pineapple boats which are cute and fun for kids to eat. You could also make fruit leather and just make sure it’s really ripe and sweet fruit if you’re not adding sugar. Reply

Anna D

December 7, 2016

You can add banana or applesauce into some cakes or do a carrot cake, I’ve used applesauce instead of oil so I’m sure u can do that and add banana for some flavor maybe pumpkin cake? Reply

This cake looks delicious! One question though, can i use sour cherries in syrup instead? If yes, would I have to add anything?
Thank you for all of your delicious recipes, and easy-to-follow instructions! I’m so glad I came across your blog! 🙂

Hi Kia, you may need to add sugar to taste with sour cherries but I do think sour cherries would taste nice 🙂 Reply

Anna O

December 6, 2016

Could you leave directions how to make the green frosting leaves please? 🙂 Reply

natashaskitchen

December 6, 2016

Hi Anna! 🙂 Here is a really easy and helpful tutorial that I came across. It’s really easy when you have that frosting tip that I linked to in the post. I hope this helps! 🙂 Reply

Anna D

December 6, 2016

You were sweet enough to bring this yummy goodness to bible study:) and it was a perfect mix of tang and sweet , highly reccomend it to those of you that don’t like your cakes overly sweet! And it’s adorable, that’s a bonus Reply

natashaskitchen

December 6, 2016

Aww thanks Anna! You’re so nice!! 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the awesome review! I did improve the frosting since then so it’s even better 😉 Reply

Anna D

December 6, 2016

U just have to let me taste test this “new frosting ” hehe;) I’ll have to just make it and see the difference Reply

Katya

December 6, 2016

Hi Natasha, I have a suggestion my mother used to make pryaneekee with mint flavor for Christmas! Thank you for all your wonderful recipes! Reply

natashaskitchen

December 6, 2016

Thanks Katya!! My Mom makes them too. I have her recipe posted here 🙂 And they always disappear fast! This year I’m experimenting with a different variation, hopefully I’ll finish testing in time for Christmas 🙂 Reply